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Why use decision analysis in conservation and management?

 

  • All conservation and management decisions are made under uncertainty, however high levels of uncertainty combined with the inability to implement actions perfectly can cripple decision-makers ability to act, often resulting in no action or delayed action.
 
  • Over the last 20 years, decision science, frameworks, and tools  (originally developed for business and economics) have been increasingly used to help natural resource managers account for various types of uncertainty associated with complex ecological problems.
 
  • Common approaches include Structured Decision-Making (SDM), Risk Assessment, and Adaptive Resource Management (ARM), but many decision tools (quantitative and qualitative) are available depending on the type of impediment that makes the conservation decision particularly difficult (i.e., framing, tradeoffs, knowledge gaps, resource allocation, uncertainty and risk, reoccurring decisions). 
 
  • I use and develop a wide variety of tools to help natural resource managers and ecologists, in collaboration with researchers, identify major decision-making impediments, develop robust and cost effective alternative solutions, and prioritize information needs. ​Using various decision analysis frameworks, I also help design and implement natural resource monitoring plans that can gather and analyze information to ultimately help guide management decisions. By avoiding common pitfalls, research and monitoring efforts can be directly linked to improved outcomes on the ground.

Want to learn more? 

 

  • Selected Online and Training Resources:

    • Overview of Structured Decision Making (NCTC ALC3183) - video series

    • Decision Analysis for Climate Change (NCTC ALC3196) - video series

    • Adaptive Management: Structured Decision Making for Recurrent Decisions (NCTC ALC3176) - video series

    • Advanced Structured Decision-Making Practicum (NCTC ALC3138) - video series

    • USFWS Stakeholder Engagement Resources (link)

    • Environmental Decision Alliance (link)

    • Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (link)

    • Harvard Business Review: Decision Making (link)

    • Alliance for Decision Education (link)

    • What makes a high quality decision? (Strategic Decisions Group video)

    • How to make better decisions (Joe Avari) (TEDx video)

    • What are the benefits of a decision journal? (Farnam Street video)

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  • Selected Books (Conservation Decisions):

    • ​Structured Decision Making: Case Studies in Natural Resource Management (ed. Runge, Converse, Lyons, Smith 2020) 

    • Conservation Planning: Informed Decisions for a Healthier Planet (Groves and Game 2015)

    • Decision Making in Natural Resource Management (Conroy and Peterson 2013)

    • Structured Decision Making: A Practical Guide to Environmental Management Choices (Gregory et al. 2012)​​

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  • Selected Books (All Decisions):

    • Nudge: The Final Edition (Thaler and Sunstein 2021)

    • How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices (Duke 2020)

    • Give yourself a Nudge: Helping Smart People Make Smarter Personal and Business Decisions (Keeney 2020)

    • Thinking in Bets (Duke 2018)

    • Farsighted: How we make the decisions that matter most (Johnson 2018)

    • Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making (Kaner et al. 2014)

    • Think Fast and Slow (Kahneman 2013)

    • Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness (Thaler and Sunstein 2009)

    • Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions (Hammond et al. 2002) ​

    • Negotiation Analysis: The Science and Art of Collaborative Decision Making (Raiffa et al. 2002)

    • Values-focused Thinking: A Pathway to Creative Decision Making (Keeney 1992)

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  • Selected Publications: 

    • Hemming et al. (2021). An introduction to decision science for conservation. Conservation Biology. (link)

    • Addison et al. (2018). Triggers: Linking Monitoring to Decision Making. How we can better integrate decision triggers into management. (link)

    • Reynolds et al. (2016). A road map for designing and implementing a biological monitoring program. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 188(7): 399. (link)

    • Lyons et al. (2008). Monitoring in the Context of Structured Decision-Making and Adaptive Management. Journal of Wildlife Management, 72(8), 1683–1692. (link)

    • Possingham et al. (2001). Making Smart Conservation Decisions, in: Conservation Biology: Research Priorities for the Next Decade. Island Press, Washington, D.C. pp. 225–244. (link)

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  • Virtual/Online Facilitation Tools: Mural, Miro, Mentimeter​, Mental Modeler, LucidChart, Spatial.Chat, Wonder, Jamboard

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Decision Making Community of Practice Support

 

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  • Decision Pod - Spring 2022

    • DA Leads: 9 Decision Coaches/Analysts from USFWS and Consulting Firms

    • Participants: R. Katz, J. Cummings, K. Alger, J. Booker, B. Folt, M. Mallek, M. Knutson, P. Hegland, D. Salas​

    • Monthly Virtual Meeting to Improve Decision Skills, modelled after the "Buddy System" in Thinking in Bets by Duke 2018

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  • Decision Making Book Club - 2020-2022

    • SDM Case Studies Book (Runge et al.) with 40 participants (September 2020-February 2021)

    • Give Yourself a Nudge (Keeney) with 25 participants (March-April 2021)

    • Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making (Kaner) with 15 participants (January 2021-August 2021)

    • How to Decide (Duke) with 15 participants (June 2021)

    • Thinking in Bets (Duke) with 20 participants (November-December 2021)

    • Thinking Fast and Slow (Kahneman) with 15 participants (February 2022-August 2022)

    • Navigating the Science-ESA Policy Interface (Runge) with 21 participants (October 2022)

    • Nudge: The Final Edition (Thaler and Sunstein) with 19 participants (November 2022)

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Decision Analysis and Facilitation (see publications & projects for more details)

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  • USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System - Northeast Region 5

    • DA Leads: R. Katz

    • Implement multi-criteria decision analysis for a range of natural resource management decisions for NWRS:​

      • Freshwater Impoundment Management for Multiple Listed Species and Invasive and Climate Threats; Great Meadows NWR (In progress)

      • Meso-Habitat Vegetation Management to Benefit Piping Plover; Prime Hook NWR (December 2021)

      • Great Marsh and Salt Marsh Sparrow Restoration; Parker River NWR (February 2020)

      • Beach Management to Benefit Beach Nesting Shorebirds; Edwin B. Forsythe NWR (October 2019) 

      • Vernal Pool Management for Amphibians; Canaan Valley NWR, Umbagog NWR, Eastern Mass NWR Complex (February 2019)

      • Freshwater Impoundment Assessment; Moosehorn NWR (November 2018)

      • NWRS Workforce Planning: Biological Assessment (April 2018)

      • Road-Stream Crossing Prioritization; Patuxent Wildlife Research NWR (December 2017)

      • Pipping Plovers and Least Tern Predator Management; ME & MA State Agencies, Rachel Carson NWR, Parker River NWR (October 2017)

      • Freshwater Impoundment Removal; Erie NWR (September 2017)

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  • Piping Plover Southern Recovery Unit Expert Elicitation

    • DA Coach: R. Katz

    • Team Coordinators: M. Durkin, E. Argo, C. Snyder, A. Hecht

    • 11 participants from federal, state, and non-profit conservation organizations (March & August 2022, Virtual)

    • Funding: USFWS

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  • Northeast NCTC Structured Decision Making Workshop 

    • DA Coach: R. Katz 

    • DA Leads (3 Teams): E. Rivenbark, C. Frost, K. Algers, K. O'Donnell, Jennie Hoffman, K. Fitzgerald, J. Cummings, K. Kalasz, E. Bjerre

    • Team Coordinators: Brook Floater Population Restoration (A. Roy, P. Hazelton), Water Use and Cold Water Refugia (T. Morelli),  Great Marsh and Salt Marsh Sparrow Restoration (N. Pau)

    • 32 participants from federal and state natural resource agencies and research institutions (February 2020, MA)

    • Funding: USFWS​

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  • Range-wide Gopher Frog Conservation SDM Workshop

    • DA Leads: R. Katz, T. Jones-Farrand, and A. Hsiung

    • Team Coordinators: B. Crawford, C. Moore, and J. Maerz

    • 10 participants from federal and state natural resource agencies and research institutions (July 2018, FL)

    • Funding: USGS Alabama CRU

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  • TNC Ganges River Flow-Ecology Elicitation Workshop

    • DA Leads: K. Kennedy and R. Katz

    • 10 scientific experts from four India-based technical and conservation organizations (May 2018, India)

    • Funding: TNC 

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  • The Future of Waterfowl Workshop II

    • DA Leads: F. Johnson and D. Case (+ 9 facilitators: R. Katz et al.)

    • 180 waterfowl conservation, wildlife management, and human dimensions experts and conservation professionals from federal, state, and non-profit organizations (September 2017, WV). Workshop Report

    • Funding: USFWS 

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  • USFWS White-nose Syndrome Science Synthesis Workshop

    • DA Leads: R. Bernard, E.H. Campbell-Grant, and R. Katz

    • FWS Leads: J. Coleman and J. Reichard

    • 12+ scientific experts that includes expertise in disease ecology, bat ecology, and wildlife management backgrounds (May 2017, MI)

    • Funding: USFWS 

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  • USFWS White-nose Syndrome Workshop

    • DA Leads: R. Katz and E.H. Campbell-Grant

    • 150 participants from federal and state natural resource management agencies and academic research institutions (June 2016, CO)

    • Funding: USFWS 

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  • Landscape Conservation for Headwater Stream Ecosystems Workshop

    • DA Leads: R.A. Katz, E.H. Campbell-Grant and M.C. Runge

    • 30 participants from 3 watershed groups over 6 workshops (Feb 2014-Dec 2015, WV & MA)

    • Funding: USGS & NECSC $110K.

 

  • Salamander Chytrid Fungus (Bsal) United States Response Team Workshop

    • DA Leads: E.H. Campbell-Grant, R. Katz, and S. Canessa

    • 35 participants from Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States during workshop (June 2015, CO)

    • Funding: USGS  

 

  • USFWS White-nose Syndrome Disease Research and Management Workshop

    • DA Leads: R. Katz

    • 50 participants from federal and state natural resource agencies and research institutions (July 2015, MI)

    • Funding: USFWS

 

  • California Condor Contaminant Recovery Team SDM Workshop

    • DA Leads: E. Rodgers, Will Tom, and R. Katz

    • 12 participants from the Recovery Team (February 2014, NCTC)

    • Funding: USFWS & USGS

 

  • Rio Grande Silvery Minnow SDM Workshop

    • DA Leads: J. Cochrane and R.Katz

    • 11 participants from federal and state natural resource agencies and research institutions (February 2012, WV)

    • Funding: USFWS & USGS 

 

  • Climate Change Uncertainty and Shenandoah Salamander SDM Workshop

    • DA Leads: D. Smith, J. Gannon. E. Campbell-Grant, and R. Katz 

    • 7 participants from federal natural resource agencies and research institutions (February 2011, WV)

    • Funding: USFWS & USGS

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